On 8 July, Portugal's Prime Minister, Pedro Passos Coelho,  opened the State of the Nation debate in parliament - taking place barely three months before the legislative elections. The last State of the Nation debate was on 2 July 2014 when the prime minister called for a national commitment on employment and asked the leader of the opposition Socialists about his position in regard to the European Union budget treaty. This time, Passos Coelho took a message of confidence in the euro zone and the Portuguese economy. The Socialist leader, António Costa, wanted to give a voice to citizens disillusioned with ‘false promises’ in the 2011 general election campaign, adding, ‘three generations have been decimated in three harrowing years.’